Buttsteak, summer '09, part 6: Bringing the Rock

Awaken, ye, from your holiday torpor!  And if you need some help doing so, follow the links to some straight-up FM-style classic rock-ery.  It's pretty meat-and-potatoes stuff. 

Our version of "Knockin'..." is basically a Guns n' Roses rip-off with a patina of actual Dylan on the top (thanks to my stubborn inner traditionalist), and some tinkly Elton-ian piano (thanks to my equally stubborn inner cheeseball).

"You Shook Me..." is another straight shooter, which arose from our post-gig recording session in Sei's basement.  After recording a bunch of the "usual suspects" and having put away a few refreshments, nature called me away for a couple of minutes and I returned to find Road, New Guy and Faulk letting loose on this number, which we'd never taken a shot at before.  Why, what lil' Care Bears those fellas are!  What a fine surprise!  Reminds me of the time an old vet school rommate cooked up a birthday scrapple pizza for me, but that's another story....   So we dropped the vocals down into a more sing-able range, slathered on some pedal steel as a curveball and let the rhythm section and Oken carry it.

Many thanks to Fitz for providing all the high notes.


Knockin' on Heaven's Door:


You Shook Me All Night Long:

Buttsteak, summer '09, part 5: Where the Hell is Hank?

Oh, the stories we could tell about Our Man in Hong Kong.  Hank.  Hank Shalabi, that is.  International Man of Mystery, Suavitee and Relentless Pursuit of Delicious Cocktails.  Yep-- And sometimes you miss that lil' bastard more than others. The attached cuts provide ample examples.  First off is "Lorraine", our favorite song by the early '80's UK ska band Bad Manners (and who among us would not love an overweight, bald, sweaty, belly-rubbing, crowd-mooning lead stomper named "Fatty Buster Bloodvessel"?).  Anyways, the Buttsteaks long had a love of the genre and (I just have to add) were surprisingly good at playing ska tunes.  The typical Buttsteak version of "Lorraine" featured some excellent faux-Brit vocal stylings from Scotty and some brassy keyboards from Hani approximating a horn section. Here we imitate but don't manage to duplicate.

Second is "Punk Rock Girl", the piece-de-resistance of Philly's snot-punk Dead Milkmen.  Blistering little guitar lead part, accordion accompaniment, flat and whiny vocal part--- check, check check!  During Buttsteak's stint in '89-'90 following Fitz's decampment for NY, Hani took over lead vocals on quite a few songs, and ended up really owning some.  This was one that was his from the start, with cig in one hand, beer in the other, and air guitar in both.  This is not to shortchange Road and New Guy, who nailed the crap outta this one, by the way!

Let us give thanks for the ska, the punk, the Hank, the goddarn Pilgrims and the trying for years to nail down a cover song!

Lorraine:


Punk Rock Girl:

Buttsteak, summer '09, part 4: Some basic rock tunes: Man/ Rat

In the interests of expediency in continuing on with the Buttsteak '09 recordings, I won't bore you with much in the way of chit-chat.  Basically, what you get with this post is, to me anyway, a pretty accurate presentation of the Buttsteak band bringing some rock.  Crank up the volume, overdrive your speakers, drink a few beers and make sure to douse yourself with one or two more, turn down the lights, blow in some secondhand smoke and pretend that Hani's M.I.A. and you're pretty much there.

"I'm the Man" is one of the several Joe Jackson tunes we ended up covering-- a real lost classic, a fine example of the Angry Young Brit genre and a perennial favorite for doing impressions of Scotty's singing, dance moves and lyrical interpretations.  "You Dirty Rat" is a Scruffy the Cat song classic that for some reason is not one of Charlie Chesterman's faves, but such is the gulf between songwriter and listener.

For your consideration:

I'm the Man:


You Dirty Rat: